Arrived!

---

Hey all!

So I arrived in Dunedin this morning, after a 13 hour flight from San Francisco to Auckland, followed by a 2 hr flight into Dunedin. The flight wasn't bad at all, I sat next to a couple from New Zealand that knew a lot more than me about the new Moonlight Basin resort at Big Sky, which was kind of funny. On my second leg I sat next to a woman that teaches nutrition at U of Otago.

The first thing I noticed as the plane touched down in Dunedin was how amazingly green it is here--apparently their December was very rainy and wet so it is absolutely beautiful here now. There were 5 other Dartmouth students on my flight, and on our way home our taxi driver told us that the town of Dunedin has a population of about 100,000 people, and it's been around for 150 years and that most of the buildings are in original form.

Everyone said we were "so far" from town and the University, but in reality we are only a 10-15 min walk. The dorm is located up on one of the rolling green hills looking over the town, surrounded by cute houses, many of which have sounds of music floating out of the windows. There are botanical gardens down the road, with lots of great running paths. In our dorm there are only 2 computers with Internet, which should be interesting with 25 computer addicted Dartmouth students + however many other people will be staying here at Aquinas.

I walked to KMart to pick up some things for my dorm room (yes there is a KMart, but its on the top level of a mall so it's inconspicuous and small), and on my way walked through a lot of the town of Dunedin. It's very cute, I would say it has a low key beach town feel surrounded by San Francisco-like hills that are covered with homes that look down onto the town. We have all noticed how polite everyone is, and it's the first time I've ever been self conscious of my American accent. I find myself trying to be extra polite so as to not come of as one of "those Americans". The weather is nice, today it's about 65 degrees and sunny, and it will get warmer as the weeks go by and it turns into summer.

I think it will take a little while to get used to New Zealand customs, although they seem similar to ours at home there are differences. Today as I was walking downtown I noticed a few cars that came VERY close as I was crossing streets, seeming to not slow down at all. It occured to me that maybe here pedestrians do not have the right away, and when I asked a woman she confirmed my thoughts. AND, when you swipe credit cards, you swipe up, not down. That was a bit embarrassing at the market when I couldn't understand the woman and she kept telling me that. oops.

---

Comments

[cooooooooombs]

jennnnnaaaaaaa
I MISSSS YOUUUU. come back now...NZ sounds like it really sucks.

[kristin]

jenna thanks for the note. it sounds beautiful! keep in touch.

[pammower]

Jenna, what a wonderful sounding place! So sorry you are missing our freezing rain. Oh yes, you may also want to check out if the toilet water really swirls the other direction. Look forward to your updates.

[M-dog]

take me with you! Sounds like it's already amamzing. I want warm weather now!!!